Three-dimensional scanning has recently become popular. However, many of the scanners used for such scanning trade-off between cost of acquisition and/or use, accuracy, ease-of-use and/or speed of acquisitions. Many commercial 3-D scanners emphasize the accuracy over all other parameters.
Scanners such as the Cyberware scanner may use an active illumination system in a fixed installation with controlled lighting. The object is transported using a motorized transport system. This can significantly increase the cost of the system. Moreover, this can make the system difficult to use in many installations, such as outdoors, where lighting may be difficult to control.